Governance Advisory Committee (GAC)

The Board of Directors acknowledges the immense benefit that external and independent perspective, insight, experience and challenge can bring to ensuring effective governance of the College. It is therefore supported in its role by a Governance Advisory Committee. The GAC provides advice and guidance to both the Board of Directors (governance) and the College Leadership Group (management) through its members’ attendance at the quarterly meetings of these bodies.

Jill Bainton (Chair)

After a twenty-year career in teaching and senior management, Jill Bainton joined Ofsted in 1997. She worked as an Ofsted registered inspector for 17 years in the independent school division as a lead inspector and worked in a similar capacity for some years for ISI. She inspected a very wide range of schools, including special, foreign language, faith, unregistered and free schools. She covered the full age range from 2 to 21 years. She is also a very experienced Early Years specialist, having worked in the Ofsted Early Years Division.

Ms Bainton left Ofsted in 2015 to undertake independent consultancy work. She now works with a wide range of independent schools, including special schools, advising them on meeting the Independent School Standards and raising the quality of their provision.

She has undertaken extensive training in safeguarding and acts as a Safeguarding Advisor, Supervisor and Governor for schools. She is a member and chair of several schools and college Advisory Governance Boards. She has undertaken extensive training in governance and advises schools on implementing effective governance.

Lindsay Badenoch

Ms Badenoch spent the first 10 years of her career in education in the state sector, firstly in Buckinghamshire, an authority that rejected the comprehensive system, then in a ‘secondary modern school with a very progressive and innovative approach to learning. She later moved to London and worked in a girls’ comprehensive in Hackney, working up to becoming Head of Year.

In 1980, Ms Badenoch joined David Game College as Director of Studies, a post she held for 14 years, getting invaluable experience as an independent school administrator. Her role included not only education but also financial and human resources management.

In 1994 she began a new career as an independent school proprietor, owning four schools. St Michael’s School, Bryn, in South Wales, had the distinction of being the most academically successful school in the country (Wales) while under her ownership. She also owned a pre-prep in London and a prep school in East Sussex and was a partner with David Game in an independent 6th-form college in London. Among these schools included both nursery provision and boarding facilities. Since being sold, two were taken over by a Chinese Educational Group and expanded.

Philippe Herszaft

Mr Herszaft is a professional accountant who joined Glazers Chartered Accountants in 1997 as an audit manager, having qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1992. He became a Partner in 1999 and has been responsible for the Practice’s finances and Human Resources. He is a general practitioner with a bias towards audit and business consultancy.

Mr Herszaft also serves as Governor of a local nursery and has been so for over fifteen years. He has been appointed to several companies to which he contributes his expertise. He enjoys singing and is a passionate supporter of the Arsenal Football team.

James Eytle

Mr Eytle started his teaching career at CTC, a tutorial college in Bloomsbury, after graduating from King’s College London, where he read Biochemistry. Previous to that, he spent a year working in the pharmaceutical industry but decided that was not his chosen career path.  James rose through the ranks of CTC, eventually becoming Principal at the age of 26 and overseeing its merger with the Cambridge School of English.

During his time at CTC, Mr Eytle established a close collaboration with Capital College in Holborn, then run by Mark Featherstone-Witty, a good friend who now heads the Liverpool  Institute for the Performing Arts, LIPA. It was during his time at CTC that James first met David, who at the time owned Kensington College of Business in Holborn.

Mr Eytle left CTC to take up a post at Ashbourne College in Kensington, becoming Vice-Principal there in 1994. Taking this post gave him the time to complete a part-time MBA, which was one of the main reasons for joining Ashbourne. Whilst at Ashbourne, he met Beverley Mellon, and together they decided to set up their own college founding Albemarle  College in June 1997. James sought out a collaboration with David Game College soon after, and Mr Game was welcomed on board as a shareholder in 1998. David Game was pivotal in engineering Albemarle’s move from Bayswater to Mayfair, its current residence.

Mr Eytle continues to run Albemarle with Beverley, where he oversees Marketing,  Recruitment, Inspections and collaborative ventures with other institutions.